Trinidad (Washington, D.C.)

Last updated
Trinidad
Etymology: the island of Trinidad
Coordinates: 38°54′21″N76°59′04″W / 38.9057°N 76.9844°W / 38.9057; -76.9844
Country United States
District Washington, D.C.
WardWard 5
Government
  Councilmember Zachary Parker

Trinidad is a neighborhood located in Ward 5, in the northeast quadrant of Washington, D.C., and is a largely residential area.

Contents

Geography

A historic Trinidad firehouse on Florida Avenue, NE Truckhouse 13 DC fire.jpg
A historic Trinidad firehouse on Florida Avenue, NE

Trinidad is to the east of West Virginia Avenue, north of Florida Avenue, and west of Bladensburg Road. [1] To the north of Trinidad is the more industrial neighborhood of Ivy City. To the west is Gallaudet University and the Florida Market (D.C.'s wholesale food district, also called the Capital City Market or more recently Union Market). To the east lies Carver Langston. To the south of Trinidad is Old City, so named because it was part of Pierre L'Enfant's original plan for the city, and generally referred to as either Near Northeast or Capitol Hill North. Located immediately south of Trinidad is the H Street Corridor. The eastern portion of the H Street Corridor is sometimes referred to as the Atlas District, part of a neighborhood branding campaign centered on the revitalized Atlas Theater.

History

The area got its name from 19th-century speculator James Barry, who had once lived on the Caribbean island of Trinidad. [2] A street in the neighborhood bears the name of Trinidad Avenue NE.

The land passed to and from the Corcoran family, who used it as a country estate, to Columbian College, which later became George Washington University, and then to the Washington Brick Machine Company. The brickworks intended to excavate clay from the land, but not needing all of the land, began selling off parcels, and, in the late 19th century, the first houses in southern Trinidad were built.

The American League Park was located at the corner of Florida Ave NE and Trinidad Avenue NE from 1901 to 1904. It was home to the Washington Senators [3]

Architecture

The first two blocks north of Florida Avenue feature classic Victorian rowhouses similar to those in nearby Capitol Hill. Further north, many of the row houses are built in a flat porch-fronted style (similar to craftsman style) that gained popularity during the 1920s. Northern portions of Trinidad were developed later, some parts as late as the 1940s.[ citation needed ]

Education

Crummel Elementary School is located in Ivy City.

Wheatley Education Campus

Wheatley Education Campus is a public school that serves grades PK-8. It is located at 1299 Neal Street NE.

Center City PCS Trinidad Campus

Center City PCS Trinidad is a public charter school that serves grades PK-8. It is located at 1217 West Virginia Ave, NE. It was the Holy Name School.

Joel Elias Spingarn Senior High School

Joel Elias Spingarn Senior High School is located at 2500 Benning Road NE.

Gallaudet University

Gallaudet University is a university for the deaf and hard of hearing. It is located at 800 Florida Avenue NE.

KIPP DC College Preparatory

KIPP DC College Preparatory is an equitable, diverse, and affirming learning community. They empower students to develop the 21st-century skills necessary to pursue college, career, and choice-filled lives. It goes from 9th to 12th grade and is located at 1405 Brentwood Parkway NE.

Transportation

Washington Metro

Trinidad is served by the NoMa – Gallaudet University Metro station on the Red Line of the Washington Metro.

Metrobus

Trinidad is served by Metrobus routes B2, D4 and D8 and X3.

Crime

Crime was a significant problem in Trinidad in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 2007 and 2008, an abnormal rash of gun violence in the neighborhood resulted in police checkpoints, which were declared unconstitutional by the federal Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in 2009. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brentwood (Washington, D.C.)</span> Place in the United States

Brentwood is a neighborhood in Northeast Washington, D.C., and is named after the Brentwood Mansion built at Florida Avenue and 6th Street NE in 1817 by Robert Brent, the first mayor of Washington City. He built it as a wedding present for his daughter Eleanor on her marriage as second wife to Congressman Joseph Pearson, and it stood for a hundred years before burning down in 1917.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capitol Hill</span> United States historic place and neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

Capitol Hill is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the oldest residential neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., and, with roughly 35,000 people in just under 2 square miles (5 km2), it is also one of the most densely populated. The name is also frequently used as a metonym for the United States Congress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NoMa–Gallaudet U station</span> Washington Metro station

NoMa–Gallaudet U station is an elevated, island platformed station on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's (WMATA) Metro system. It is located on the same embankment as the Amtrak tracks into Union Station. It serves the Red Line, and is situated between Union Station and Rhode Island Avenue–Brentwood stations. With an average of 6,593 daily entries in 2023, NoMa–Gallaudet U was the ninth-busiest station in the Metro system and the busiest elevated stop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northwest (Washington, D.C.)</span> Quadrant in the United States

Northwest is the northwestern quadrant of Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and is located north of the National Mall and west of North Capitol Street. It is the largest of the four quadrants of the city, and it includes the central business district, the Federal Triangle, and the museums along the northern side of the National Mall, as well as many of the District's historic neighborhoods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northeast (Washington, D.C.)</span> Quadrant in the United States

Northeast is the northeastern quadrant of Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It encompasses the area located north of East Capitol Street and east of North Capitol Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swampoodle (Washington, D.C.)</span> Place in the United States

Swampoodle was a neighborhood in Washington, D.C. on the border of Northwest and Northeast in the second half of 19th and early 20th century. This neighborhood is no longer known as Swampoodle and has been replaced in large part by NoMa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eckington (Washington, D.C.)</span> Place in the United States

Eckington is a neighborhood in Northeast Washington, D.C., located south of the Prospect Hill and Glenwood Cemeteries. Eckington is less than one mile (1.6 km) southeast of Howard University and exactly one mile north of the United States Capitol. Eckington is also the home of the District of Columbia office of Sirius XM Radio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York Avenue (Washington, D.C.)</span>

New York Avenue is a diagonal avenue radiating northeast from the White House in Washington, D.C. to the border with Maryland. It is a major east–west route in the city's Northwest and Northeast quadrants and connects downtown with points east and north of the city via Cheverly, Maryland, the John Hanson Highway, the Baltimore–Washington Parkway, and eventually, Interstate 95.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H Street (Washington, D.C.)</span> Set of streets in the United States

H Street is a set of east–west streets in several of the quadrants of Washington, D.C. It is also used as an alternate name for the Near Northeast neighborhood, as H Street NW/NE is the neighborhood's main commercial strip.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida Avenue</span>

Florida Avenue is a major street in Washington, D.C. It was originally named Boundary Street, because it formed the northern boundary of the Federal City under the 1791 L'Enfant Plan. With the growth of the city beyond its original borders, Boundary Street was renamed Florida Avenue in 1890.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M Street (Washington, D.C.)</span> Four streets of the same name in Washington, D.C.

The name "M Street" refers to two major roads in the United States capital of Washington, D.C. Because of the Cartesian coordinate system used to name streets in Washington, the name "M Street" can be used to refer to any east-west street located twelve blocks north or south of the dome of the United States Capitol. Thus, in all four quadrants of the city there are streets called "M Street", which are disambiguated by quadrant designations, namely, M Street NW, NE, SW, and SE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NoMa</span> Neighborhood in Washington, D.C., U.S.

"NoMa" is a moniker for the area north of Massachusetts Avenue located north and east of Union Station in Washington, D.C. NoMa includes the neighborhoods of Sursum Corda, Eckington, and Near Northeast and includes a section historically known as Swampoodle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivy City</span> Neighborhood in Washington, D.C., U.S.

Ivy City is a small neighborhood in Northeast Washington, D.C., in the United States. About half the neighborhood is industrial or formerly industrial, dominated by warehouses. The Ivy City Yard, a railroad coach yard and maintenance facility for the passenger railroad Amtrak, is situated northwest across New York Avenue NE. Ivy City was laid out as a suburban development for African Americans in 1873. Development was slow. From 1879 to 1901, the neighborhood hosted the Ivy City Racetrack, a major horse racing facility in the District of Columbia. Construction on the rail yard began in 1907 and was complete within a year, although much of the facilities there were demolished in 1953 and 1954 as railroads switched from coal-fired locomotives to diesel-fueled or electric engines. The Alexander Crummell School, a major focal point of the community, opened in 1911. After some years of enrollment decline, it closed in 1972 but has not been demolished. The area has undergone some gentrification in the 21st century, although people living in the residential core of Ivy City remain very poor and unemployment is high.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">7th Street (Washington, D.C.)</span>

There are two north–south arteries in Washington, D.C. named 7th Street that are differentiated by the quadrants of the city in which they are located.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Near Northeast (Washington, D.C.)</span> Neighborhood in Ward 6, United States

Near Northeast, also known as Néné, is a neighborhood in Northeast Washington, D.C. It is bounded by North Capitol Street to the west, Florida Avenue to the north, F Street to the south, and 15th Street to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metropolitan Branch Trail</span>

The Metropolitan Branch Trail is an American rail trail between the transit center in Silver Spring, Maryland, and Union Station in the District of Columbia. Part of the East Coast Greenway, it extends the Capital Crescent Trail where it merges with the active WMATA and CSX railroad tracks into the national capital. Planned connections include a trail from Fort Totten to the Northwest Branch Trail of the Anacostia Tributary Trail System at Hyattsville, Maryland; and an on-street connection from Union Station to the National Mall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quadrants of Washington, D.C.</span> Geographical quadrant

Washington, D.C., is administratively divided into four geographical quadrants of unequal size, each delineated by their ordinal directions from the medallion located in the Crypt under the Rotunda of the Capitol. Street and number addressing, centered on the Capitol, radiates out into each of the quadrants, producing a number of intersections of identically named cross-streets in each quadrant. Originally, the District of Columbia was a near-perfect square but contained more than one settlement, the Capitol was to be the center of the City of Washington. Thus, the Capitol was never located at the geographic center of the whole territory, which was eventually, north of the Potomac River, consolidated into one city. As a result, the quadrants are of greatly varying size. Northwest is quite large, encompassing over a third of the city's geographical area, while Southwest is little more than a few neighborhoods, large parks, and a military base.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Market</span> Food hall and district in Washington, D.C.

Union Market is a food hall located in Washington, D.C. It anchors the Union Market District, a neighborhood encompassing high-rise apartments, office buildings, retail, and entertainment options.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Virginia Avenue</span>

West Virginia Avenue is an avenue in Washington, DC running from K Street NE to New York Avenue NE. It was named after the State of West Virginia which entered the Union in 1863.

References

  1. Schwartzman, Paul. Reality Checkpoint. The Washington Post. 2008-07-08. Page B01.
  2. Schwartzman, Paul (July 8, 2008). "Reality Checkpoint". Washington Post. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  3. Image 59 of Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia - 1904
  4. Glod, Maria (11 July 2009). "Federal Courts Says D.C. Police Checkpoints Were Unconstitutional". Washington Post. Retrieved 16 January 2015.